


Bounty

by inuzuru



Category: Naruto
Genre: Assassin Umino Iruka, BAMF Umino Iruka, Bounty Hunter Hatake Kakashi, Loosely inspired by The Mandalorian, M/M, Slow Burn, bounty hunter AU, no beta reader we die like men, will update tags as necessary
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-20 07:14:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22013605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inuzuru/pseuds/inuzuru
Summary: The ANBU Guild is a now infamous group of elite bounty hunters. Kakashi is one of their most prodigious members. Despite his status, he isn't immune from their code of conduct. An unlikely ally will be what he needs to ensure the safety of his newest 'assignment'; protecting a young child of the Uzumaki clan.-- HIATUS until further notice
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka
Comments: 2
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so. this is happening. uhhh this isnt going to update particularly fast, as i do work full time, but i hope this concept is enjoyed nonetheless ... im going to try to update each time with two chapters, so stay tuned!
> 
> thank you for reading ♡

The man was surprisingly quick.

Kakashi was hidden, for now. He held perfectly still. He slowed his breathing, hauled in enough air to slow the quickened pace of his heart.

“I know you’re still here,” the voice came.

Kakashi didn’t know who he was. He only knew that he wasn’t a member of the organization that he was supposed to deliver the asset to. Which was a good thing.. but, he was still in danger.

The child was tucked away in a rudimentary, makeshift harness that kept him against the jounin’s back. Asleep for now. Kakashi could only hope that he would stay that way.

He had to get out of here. 

He made a break for it.

The man was quicker than he gave him credit for, and within seconds, he had a kunai to Kakashi’s throat.

He swallowed, and felt very uncomfortable with how it felt to have the blade pressed against his skin. He looked up, through the holes of his ANBU mask. The man was watching him steadily, and made direct eye contact with the sole eye that peeked from the mask.

“You realize that ANBU are wanted as criminals in these parts, correct?” the man asked. He had long hair tied back into a ponytail. He was tan and had a long, thin scar stretching across the bridge of his nose. 

He was strong, capable. Kakashi could feel the strength in him, as the blade dug deeper into his throat. It hadn’t cut skin yet, but he knew if he moved that it would. He was cornered.

“I understand,” Kakashi began, “I’m on my way out of here. Just passing through.” He hoped that he could negotiate out of this. He couldn’t afford getting arrested. Not now. Not with the child sleeping on his back. The akatsuki would, for sure, find him then.

The man stared at him for a moment.

“You’re not alone?” he asked. More of a statement than a question. Kakashi shook his head slightly, minding the blade still at his throat.

“I have to take him far away from this place,” Kakashi said. “He needs to be protected. He’s only a child.”

The man’s eyes roved towards his back, and furrowed his eyebrows at the sight of the harness on his back. The child wasn’t visible, but Kakashi knew that the man understood, by the way his eyes softened slightly.

“I should take you in. All of you ANBU are the same,” he spat. Though, he took the blade off of Kakashi’s throat, and slipped it into his holster. The jounin let out an imperceptible sigh of relief.

“Not all of us,” Kakashi said, as he stood up straight and turned to face the other man.

He was an assassin, he realized, as he looked at him. The ninja of the surrounding villages had been tasked to kill ANBU on sight. He’d never been threatened, as he could evade a lot of them easily, or just avoid the areas altogether, but he had been sent directly into the heartland of the fight to retrieve the child.

“How do I know that you’re not going to harm the child?” the man said.

Kakashi watched him carefully for a moment. If this one managed to catch him so easily, he was worried about the implications that held. Even with his sharingan, Kakashi was not invincible. Having the child with him put him at a severe disadvantage. And he had a very long way to go before he was out of the territory of the villages that wanted him dead.

It wasn’t a sound plan. But, this man was giving him an option to get out of here. Kakashi was known for pushing his luck at this point.

“There’s no way that you can be sure,” Kakashi answered, as he straightened the white and red mask on his face.

“However, I have a proposition. If you come with me, and escort me to the edge of your village’s territory, so that I may find a safe home for this child away from those who want to kill him, I will compensate you,” he said.

The man raised an eyebrow at him.

“How much?” he questioned.

“I’ll cut you thirty percent of the bounty I’m expecting from getting this child to safety,” he said. 

It was a bold lie. He was going to be excommunicated from the ANBU as soon as they caught wind of him stealing the asset and running off with him. There would be no bounty. Kakashi would just have to kill him before he found out, but after the child was in safety.

The man watched him carefully, calculating. Kakashi was thankful for the mask concealing his face. He was usually good at deception, so he wasn’t worried, but the mask helped his case.

“Fifty,” the man responded, folding his arms across his chest. “I won’t take any less. You can’t make it through these lands without protection.”

“Fine. Fifty percent. Delivered when I receive the bounty and the child is in safe hands,” he continued, before reaching out his hand. The other grasped his hand firmly, and gave it a good shake.

“You have yourself a deal, ANBU,” he responded. 

Kakashi nodded slowly. He was still a good few days out from the edge of the territory. It had taken him quite a while to find the child on his way in. He knew his general direction out, but knew there were many obstacles in his path.

Many villages dotted this territory, filled with their own assassins. This man was not the only one that would attempt to kill him before the ordeal was over.

“Hatake,” Kakashi said. A pause. The man looked a little startled. Kakashi was not surprised at his shock. His family name was rather infamous now, because of his father’s actions before him.

“Umino,” the man replied. Umino. 

Kakashi nodded. He shifted a little, centering the weight of the child between his shoulder blades.

“Does he have a name?” Umino asked, taking a small step closer. Kakashi shot him a warning look, and the man paused in his stride.

“Uzumaki is his family name,” Kakashi answered. “I’m trying to deliver him to his people, where he would be safest.”

Umino paused for a second. Then gave a slow nod. 

“It’s getting close to nightfall. We had better stay hidden for the remainder of the night,” he said. It was a sound decision. If they moved during daylight, they would have less of a chance of being ambushed. Sunlight came with more visibility. 

“Good idea,” Kakashi replied. He didn’t have much faith in the thought of himself sleeping, especially with someone so close that he considered an enemy, but he was sure the child would be hungry upon waking.

“I know a nice place nearby. No one will bother us there. Follow me,” Umino said. Kakashi gave a nod, and quickly fell into step beside him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thaaaank you for reading, as always ♡

The location that Umino led them to was tucked away in the trees. It was near the bank of a river, which made Kakashi a little nervous, but he figured that it would be nice to have fresh water accessible for the night. 

The fire crackled pleasantly, and Kakashi had set up a rather nice sleeping arrangement for the child. He was beginning to worry. He had been asleep for some time now. He was breathing steadily, and his pulse was still strong, but he had been out for a long time.

The Akatsuki member that he had stolen the child back from had been tampering with the seal mark on his belly. He wondered silently if that was the reason he was sleeping for so long.

He didn’t voice his concern. Not for now, anyway. 

Kakashi reached up and took his ANBU mask off, and laid it next to him. He reached for his bag, to rummage through it for the rations he’d taken with him. Well.. stole from a nearby village, but that wasn’t important. Though, he felt eyes on him.

“Is there something you would like to say, Umino?” he asked, as he looked over his shoulder towards the other ninja. The man stiffened slightly.

“Is it necessary to wear another mask underneath the other? It sounds a little excessive,” he commented. His eyes darted away as he busied himself with taking off the weapon holster he had on the side of his leg.

Kakashi shrugged, and carefully repositioned the headband that covered his left eye.

“What sort of ninja would I be if I were to reveal my face to just anyone? A shinobi should have his anonymity,” he answered easily. Umino shook his head. 

Kakashi turned away from him, and stole a quick bite of the protein bar that he had grabbed from his bag. He then offered another one, unopened, to the other shinobi.

“If you’re to accompany me for the next four days, you had better save your strength,” he said. Umino watched him carefully, critically, before accepting the package from him.

“Thank you,” he muttered, as he opened the pack and began to eat.

Kakashi leaned back against the tree behind him, and gazed over towards where the boy was sleeping.

Naruto Uzumaki. What a name. He wondered what it was that the seal on his belly held within him. What importance did this child, barely the tender age of five, really have in all of this? 

The ANBU guild never gave him more information than he needed. They had given him an age and his last known location. Kakashi had gleaned the rest of the information he knew about him from documents that he had found, when he retrieved the boy in the beginning. 

Well.. he was quite vocal in telling Kakashi his name and how old he was, however.

He held some part in the grand scheme of things, but he was unsure as to what it was. He was unsure if he truly wanted to find out. If it involved the Akatsuki, it probably wasn’t anything good. They were infamous, heralded as a criminal syndicate. Whatever plan they had for the child was certainly not a good one.

But, for now, the boy slept. He was curled into a fetal position, and tucked beneath Kakashi’s vest to keep him warm. His blonde hair stuck out in every possible direction, and his face was buried into his hands. He looked peaceful. Kakashi could only wonder how the boy would react upon waking.

“If you’re part of the ANBU, then why are you protecting him?” Umino’s voice startled Kakashi out of his reverie. The bounty hunter paused, unsure of how to respond to his question.

“It.. seems like the right thing to do,” he answered after a long moment. “He’s too young to defend himself against the men after him.”

Umino was quiet for a second, and tossed the wrapper to the protein bar into the fire. Kakashi watched it smoulder and burn up in the heat.

“I was always told ANBU don’t care about anyone other than themselves,” Umino continued. 

“As I was told about your kind, as well,” Kakashi answered, looking over at the other shinobi. Umino winced a little and muttered an apology.

“ANBU isn’t just an affiliation. It’s a clan. We may not be the most morally right group of people, but we do take care of our own,” he explained. He doubted that he would ever be included in the guild ever again, now that he was disobeying the code. But, it wasn’t as if he wasn’t used to being on his own.

“So, you decided that being a babysitter was a good hobby, then,” Umino said, voice tinged with humor as he spoke. Kakashi felt the corner of his mouth curve under his mask.

“Well, it’s certainly an interesting change of pace,” he mused. “I can’t say that I’m very good with children, though.”

“You’re very lucky, then. I used to be a teacher before I took on this job,” Umino continued, with a soft chuckle. Kakashi raised an eyebrow. Ah. That made sense why the man had softened up when Naruto was brought into the discussion earlier. He guessed he could appreciate that.

“Seriously? _Umino-sensei_. I suppose that has a decent ring to it,” Kakashi said, thoughtfully. 

“Don’t say that,” Umino groaned, exasperated. “It’s been ages since anyone called me that. I don’t need _you_ saying it.”

Umino proved to be a very reasonable person. Or.. well.. he was pleasant during conversation. For the moment. Kakashi still couldn’t find it in himself to trust the man as far as he could throw him. He didn’t get this far in life by trusting every person he met, and he wouldn’t begin the trend now.

He was going to stay up and keep watch, he had decided early on. His body was already exhausted from staying awake all night the previous night. Insufficient sleep paired with the level of chakra depletion he had suffered during the last bout of combat he had been through proved to be exhausting. 

He felt it in his bones. His body was giving him hell for how he had been misusing it. Kakashi had a tendency to push himself to his limits often. He wasn’t one to allow himself recovery time. Why wait when he could be moving on to his next bounty? 

He found it hard to keep his eyes open. Umino was growing silent next to him, and he didn’t have it in his mind to keep a watch on him. His eyelids were heavy, and he felt like his whole body was weighed down with sand.

One moment, he was awake, preparing his weapons and his other belongings for a quick escape, should any enemies appear.

And the next, he was passed out cold, curled up into a ball against the base of the tree he sat by.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its . 4am , as im posting these two new chapters and as always, i hope you all enjoy the updates..... im trying to keep a consistent word count on each of these, but it may very
> 
> thanks for the kudos & nice comments ♡ i love yall

Kakashi woke with a start. 

The fire had gone out what seemed like hours ago. Heat had long since stopped radiating from it. The sun hadn’t quite come up in the sky, but it was light enough to see. He pushed the vest off of him. 

Wait. Vest?

Where was Naruto then?

Panic began to set in. He jumped to his feet and dashed through the bushes towards the clearing near the water’s edge. He had to get a good idea of direction, so that he could try to find him.

Why did he fall asleep? He knew better! He was keeping himself busy! How did he fall asleep so quickly like that? Now, Umino could be miles and miles away with the kid and he’d never see him again. Umino might turn him in for the bounty and then everything will be for nothing—

“Don’t get in the water,” an exasperated voice sounded. Kakashi paused. He felt like his heart froze in his chest.

Umino was crouched near the edge of the river, kunai in hand… with a fish stuck cleanly to the tip. He was.. fishing. Naruto stood nearby, obviously very intrigued by the whole process, but being five years old, wanted to get in the water.

Kakashi shut his mouth quickly, suddenly aware that he was gaping at him, when Umino turned to look at him. Idiot.

“Oh, good morning, Hatake-san,” Umino greeted, eyes glinting with amusement. “Naruto wanted to watch me fish.” 

Naruto looked over, wide blue eyes curious about the man who had just stepped into the clearing. He probably didn’t recognize him without the ANBU mask, Kakashi realized. Well.. he had been afraid of him with that mask on. So, he figured he could keep it off for now.

“Who are you?” Naruto asked. The kid didn’t seem to show any fear of him. That was good. Maybe this wouldn’t be so hard.

“This is Hatake-sensei. He’s accompanying us. That’s why I had you catch this extra fish,” Umino explained gently.

Kakashi stayed silent for a moment. He wasn’t going to mention the _sensei_ that Umino had tacked onto his name. Not yet, anyway. 

“Uhh,” he began, dumbly, “Did you catch anything good?” 

“ _Naruto_ caught this one,” Umino said. Naruto just beamed at him.

“Yeah! I caught this one!” he said triumphantly.

Kakashi could feel his anxiety beginning to waver. Naruto was okay, he was awake and Umino hadn’t kidnapped him. Maybe the boy had just needed to rest. After all, the fighting must have been stressful for him, too, even if he wasn’t really part of the combat. 

The jounin gave a small sigh of relief and walked over towards where they were. 

“Did you sleep well?” Kakashi asked, as he reached out and gently wiped a bit of dirt off of Naruto’s cheek. The child made a face and squirmed away from him.

“Yeah! Umino-sensei has been teaching me how to fish!” he said. Ah. At least he was entertained. Kakashi could feel more at ease. 

He didn’t necessarily trust Umino yet, but he could feel more confident that the man wasn’t set out to kill or hurt the child. Kakashi didn’t really give two shits if he, himself, was injured, as long as Naruto was brought to safety.

“Alright, we ought to get these cleaned up and cooked. Daybreak is going to be here soon, and we should get moving as soon as we eat,” Umino said as he stood up straight.

It didn’t take too much time to build the fire up again. Umino had given Kakashi the task of descaling, gutting, and filleting a fish. Which… he had never done before. It would have been simple, he assumed. He should have learned a while ago, but.. Kakashi wasn’t the type to fish when he was in the wilderness.

“Do you.. know how to do that, Hatake-san?” Umino questioned from across the makeshift fire pit. Kakashi nearly winced. He could lie and seem more capable than he was. Or he could tell the truth and not waste the fish.

Umino must have taken his silence for answer enough.

“Come here,” he said, gesturing to the space next to him. Kakashi squinted, inadvertently, and Umino rolled his eyes.

“I’m going to show you how to do it,” he said. The jounin sighed, and then rearranged himself next to the other man. As Umino took the fish into his hands, both men seemed to silently agree to take turns watching Naruto. Who was busying himself with trying to catch a frog that was unlucky enough to be seen by the child.

Kakashi felt a little dumb, sitting next to the man, as he showed him how to cut the scales off a fish. It seemed easy enough, but it was partially because Umino’s hands moved in such practiced motions, as if he’d done this for years. He probably had, Kakashi noted. No one was that good at something without practice.

Umino was patient. He explained each motion that he did, and looked at Kakashi’s face every so often to make sure he was paying attention. It made sense, suddenly, that the man had been a teacher. He was very thorough. It hadn’t been very apparent when the man had tried to kill him yesterday.

Once he’d taken the back of his knife and ran it down the inside of the fillet, and subsequently removed the smallest bones from the flesh, he moved to begin the process of cooking it over the fire.

“I can’t believe you, an ANBU member, didn’t know how to fillet a fish,” Umino commented, looking over his shoulder.

“I don’t fish that often,” Kakashi responded. He settled in against the tree he had favored the night before. The fish wasn’t that great taste wise. It wasn’t seasoned, but he was starving. He didn’t realize it until he’d sank his teeth into it. 

He sat positioned with his back towards the other man, so he could eat in peace and not have to sneak bites without Umino catching glances of his face. It was enough to fill his belly, at least to satisfy. It was protein. He wasn’t much a fan of fish cooked this way, but he wouldn’t complain. Meat was meat. It had enough calories to keep him going.

Naruto seemed to enjoy it. And ate his share of fish without complaint. Kakashi even gave the boy half of his share, and he happily accepted. It was good that he was eating. It wasn’t the best of meals, but it was something. He’d just have to deal with it for another few days before they found his clan.

With breakfast taken care of, the sun was coming up. The forest was light enough to see well. It was time to get moving. Kakashi took care of stamping out the fire, and concealing the evidence of their camp there. He scooped up Naruto, and tucked him protectively into his makeshift harness. He fussed, but eventually gave in. 

“North,” Umino commented.

“We can travel until nightfall, and then find a place to camp,” Kakashi responded, with a small nod. 

He hoped this trip would be over soon.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its only natural that i have to write a bunch of domestic shit before everything starts picking up, do not @ me
> 
> anyway, thanks for everything ♡ hope u guys enjoy this one, love u

It was funny. 

Kakashi did not give a damn. About _anything_ or _anyone_. 

He was his own man. He never knew his mother, only knew his father from the tales that the guild members told him as he grew up. Kakashi was a ghost. Hatake was the only thing that tacked him down to any identifiable source. His sharingan was fool’s gold, in terms of his heritage. 

He grew up alone, preferred it that way. His closest friends had died years ago. He was in his early twenties now. He had been determined to keep himself alone and self-sufficient. 

And now he had a young boy to take care of. 

In his own defense, the child was not his. Not by blood, or by association. Despite the teasing jokes that Umino frequently made whenever Naruto gravitated towards him, or asked him to play, this was _not_ his child.

Naruto was a wonderful kid, despite Kakashi’s obvious disdain to children. Even if he was energetic and wanted to run off every few seconds. He was very curious, and intelligent. Given proper training and a few years, Kakashi could tell that he would grow into a very skilled shinobi.

It still bugged him that he didn’t know why everyone wanted this kid so bad.

The next day and a half seemed to drag on forever. It was endless traveling through the forest, trying to reach the edge of territory that Kakashi was illegally trespassing in. He had tucked his ANBU mask into his bag, for safe measure, but knew that if they would be stopped, he would have been found out.

Umino played an integral part throughout all of it. Kakashi didn’t trust him completely, and probably wouldn’t ever, but he couldn’t say that he wasn’t thankful. Naruto seemed to think the world of the assassin. Umino kept him busy while Kakashi slept, and then he would return the favor. It worked. 

Despite their progress, he was grateful when they happened upon a village that wasn’t hostile to ANBU members. The Village Hidden In The Leaves. It was a decent size, and looked okay for the moment. Kakashi let out a sigh of relief once they had walked through the gates. 

They weren’t safe by any means, but he felt like he could breathe. The Akatsuki wouldn’t come here looking for the boy, would they?

“We can gather information here,” Kakashi said, as he set Naruto down next to him and took the small boy’s hand in his own. Well.. while he played babysitter, anyway.

“Maybe someone in this town knows where the Uzumaki clan makes their home,” the jounin commented absently as Naruto tugged on his hand to try and wander off again. He sighed.

“They should,” Umino replied. “The family symbol is on the back of their jackets.” Kakashi turned to look where Umino had been gazing. To a few shinobi outside of a shop. The men standing there had green tactical vests with a red symbol on the back, resembling a swirl. 

Kakashi paused. How did he know–?

Before he could open his mouth, Umino had set off in the direction of a ramen shop nearby. He would have to save the thought for another time. Naruto gave a very excited tug on Kakashi’s hand.

“Hatake-sensei! Can we get ramen?” he asked. Kakashi winced at the overly excited look on the boy’s face. It wasn’t like he couldn’t afford it. It would make the kid happy. He gave a nod, to which Naruto shouted with delight. 

The boy’s hand slipped from Kakashi’s in his haste to get to the ramen stand, and he hurried after Umino. Maybe this would be good. It wasn’t the healthiest meal in the world, but it was better than what they had been eating. Something warm with vegetables in it would do him good.

The shop was warm when they stepped inside, and Naruto climbed up onto one of the stools hastily. Kakashi took a seat between him and Umino, who was already on top of things. He gave their order to the man across the counter, and as Kakashi turned to retrieve money from his bag, stopped his hand.

“I’ll take care of it,” Umino said warmly. Kakashi paused, confused.

“You were kind enough to offer me fifty percent, I think I can handle one dinner,” he continued. Kakashi froze for a moment. Ah, he’d forgotten all about the non-existent bounty. He felt the seeds of guilt plant in his gut, and desperately wished he could just forget about it.

“If I remember correctly, _you_ haggled fifty percent out of me,” Kakashi lamented, hoping the other man hadn’t noticed his awkward silence. Umino gave him a cheeky grin.

The ramen didn’t take much longer, and Kakashi nearly had to restrain Naruto from digging in too fast. 

“Please don’t choke,” he complained. He turned back to his own bowl with a sigh of defeat. As he moved to take his first bite, he felt eyes on him. Turning, he noticed those eyes were Umino’s.

“Is there something on my face?” Kakashi asked.

“Yeah, there is,” he said. “How do you eat with that on?” The jounin squinted at him. After two days, he was just now asking..?

“Very carefully,” Kakashi responded, exasperated. “Please don’t stare. It’s impolite, Umino-sensei.”

The assassin very dutifully turned back to his own bowl, as Kakashi dug into his own. He knew the other man was watching him. He kept stealing glances when he thought Kakashi wasn’t looking. The jounin made sure to not eat while he was watching.

Though, he made eye contact with Umino at least a couple times.

“You keep staring,” Kakashi commented, a soft hum leaving his lips as he adjusted his headband.

“I’m only curious,” Umino defended. “I don’t know what you really look like.” Kakashi shrugged, and leaned against the counter. He nudged the empty ramen bowl forward, to indicate he was finished.

“Maybe one day I’ll show you, since you’re so curious, Umino-san. But, that day isn’t today,” he said with a little sigh.

“That’s too bad. I guess I’ll just have to stick around until that day comes around, hm?” Umino responded with a cheeky little grin. Kakashi watched him for a moment, noted the way his mouth curved when he smiled, and then looked away. He didn’t like that.

Once Naruto had gotten his belly full, they found a nice place to call it quits for the night. The little town sported decent lodging, and Kakashi was more than a little eager to sleep on a bed for the night. He was accustomed to roughing it in the wilderness, but nothing could beat a nice mattress, a warm blanket, and a _pillow_.

The room was small, but boasted two twin sized beds, and plenty of space for the three of them. It was euphoric. He dropped his bag on the floor, and kicked it haphazardly under the bed, so it was hidden. He didn’t feel safe enough to take off any of his weapons, but the bed was comfortable enough that he didn’t care about the bulk.

“This is the _life_ ,” he sighed happily. It felt like ages since he’d had a nice place to sleep. They weren’t even nice beds. They were obviously older and were flat and the sheets were scratchy. He didn’t give a damn. A bed was a bed was a bed.

Umino gave a soft chuckle from across the room. He had busied himself setting his own belongings down and toed off his shoes, then settled into bed. Naruto climbed up onto the bed Kakashi was in and curled up next to him.


End file.
